One way councillors can influence the business of the council, or discuss matters of importance to the community, is through ‘motions’ at regular meetings of Full Council, which all Cambridge City councillors are able to attend. 

Motions can be put forward (or ‘moved’) by any councillor and then supported (or ‘seconded’) by any other councillor. The motion will then be debated at the meeting of Full Council, before being voted on by those councillors who are present at the meeting.

Before the motion is debated and voted on, there is an opportunity for councillors to ‘move’ an amendment to the motion. Amendments to the motion, if ‘seconded’ by another councillor, would be debated and voted on prior to the debate and vote on the motion itself. If the amendment is approved, the motion would then be debated and voted on as amended. If the amendment is not approved, the motion would be debated and voted on in its original form.

If the majority of councillors vote to approve the motion, the text of the motion (including amendment where relevant) then becomes a statement of the council’s position on a topic.

We started publishing approved motions in May 2025 when our new governance model was introduced.